Some Things Never Change
by Butterfly Kitty
Summary: Cherrykit, bored of her life, goes exploring for a while, and finds new friends. Gray, furry, gigantic, unusual friends, you could say. All the while she learns a lesson; some things never change, but sometimes it's best if things stay that way. Oneshot.


**I. Have. Nothing. To. Say. Except for the fact that I'm almost deathly scared cuz in Massachusetts, USA, we've just had a tornado warning, and my dad is saying its not coming anywhere near where we live, but then again, we have a six year old in the background...**

I woke up. Nothing ever changed. Day after day after day I would sleep at the curve of my mommy Poppyfrost's belly, go outside and play either Clan Attack, Rogue Attack, or Moss Ball with Molekit, listen to Elder's never-changing stories, and quite frankly I was fed up with it. I wanted adventure! Not Clan life. In ThunderClan, the leader Firestar was so sickly sweet I bet he wouldn't let a scrawny little mouse die of poison in the forest. I mean, he abandoned his own clan to rebuild SkyClan! What kind of a leader would do that? Well, anyway, Firestar doesn't punish kits (comes in handy for me, but bugs me when other, older, bigger kits and apprentices start to make me wanna cry), he doesn't let us go in any den except for the elder's and nursery dens, AND he doesn't let us out of the camp! Even when there's a warrior with us!

"Cherrykit, let's go play Moss Ball!" Molekit squealed at me. I sighed.

"Why?" I whined "we play that all the time!"

"Okay then, spoilsport, how about Rogue Attack? You can be Cherrystar," Molekit offered. I sighed again.

"But Molekit, what I mean is, everything's old. We play that a lot too." I sat up.

"Clan Attack? Or are you too sophisticated to play with me?" Molekit was anxious now. I sighed a third time.

"Fine." I walked out of the Nursery, Poppyfrost's watchful eye on me and Molekit.

"I will be the ThunderClan leader, Molestar. You can be Cherrystar of ShadowClan," Molekit said.

"Fine," I said sadly.

Molekit(star) leapt on me and I shook him off, letting him tumble to the ground. I put a paw on him to proclaim my victory.

"Hey, that's not fair!" Molekit cried, shaking my paw off.

"Sure it is. You fell, I won," I said boringly.

"Mommy! Mommy! Cherrykit's not being fair!" Molekit whined, running to Poppyfrost.

"Molekit..." I didn't hear Poppyfrost's speech, because I had slinked off behind the elders' den.

I padded cautiously out of the camp into... an AMAZING place! Firestar had kept me away from... this? I saw trees spilling out around a beautiful dirt path. Shaking off, I padded to the middle of the path and sat down. Then I jumped up and scampered to a tree. Next to it was a log. I peered inside the hollow opening.

"He-lloo in there!" My voice echoed. It was funny!

"Hello out there!" a voice barked. I drew back, afraid.

"Who are you?" I whimpered, my ears falt against my skull.

"I am Ooraga," the voice yipped. And out popped a silvery muzzle. I bit back a screech.

"O... Ooraga?" I asked.

"Yep."

"B... but your a... a... _wolf!"_ I cried. Now the whole body of a wolf had come out of the log.

"Yep."

"Why aren't you eating me?"

"Oh, paw-leeaaasssee. You're the scrawniest cat around!"

"Why aren't you with a pack?" I asked. Ooraga rolled his eyes.

"I had to escape."

"Why?"

"Because things were bad."

"Why didn't you stay?"

"I'm an Omega."

"What's that?"

"The lowest rank. Wolves hate us because of our flaws."

"Why?"

"Because... it's just what wolves do."

"Why?"

"It is what we do by nature." This wolf-called-Ooraga had good patience.

"Why?"

"Honestly, I do not know."

"Why?"

"Cuz I've never been taught."

"Why?"

"Cuz I'm an Omega."

"Why?"

"I already answered that."

"Why?"

"Because you asked it."

"Why?" After I asked that, I knew Ooraga was speechless. Then I realized how stupid and kit-like I sounded.

"Sorry, sorry!" I covered up.

"Why?" Ooraga copied me. I giggled.

"Ooraga, you're so funny!" I cried. Ooraga shushed me and perked his ears. He told me to wait. Three more wolves padded into the log, dragging a limp fox with them. I was stunned, because foxes scare me.

"Sorry, Ooraga. This was all we could find," a wolf with white fur said. Two female wolves, gray and black, came forward. The gray one nuzzled Ooraga's cheek. The other snuggled up next to him, licking his chest as he licked her head.

"Midnight, Lula, Farfali, and Maru, meet this kit..." Ooraga gestured his tail at me.

"My name is Cherrykit," I said quietly. The white male approached me.

"I'm Farfali." A black male came up after him.

"My name's Midnight." The gray female licked me affectionately.

"I'm Lula. I'm Ooraga's sister," she said. The black she-wolf didn't move, but said her name was Maru, and I guessed she was Ooraga's mate.

"Are you _all _Omegas?" I asked. They nodded.

"Lula and I come from the Pack of Falling Water, Farfali comes from the Pack of High Lands, Midnight comes from the Pack of Thundering Forests, and Maru, my mate, comes from the Pack of Dark Shadows," Ooraga explained. I sniffed. Maru was fat. I smelled milk. She was pregnant!

"Put the fox in the middle," Ooraga said to Midnight, who had the fox. He obeyed, and Ooraga pulled apart equal pieces from the fox, but purposfully gave me a smaller piece, in case I wasn't weaned.

"Omegas, I call fourth the Pack of Starry Nights to watch over us as we eat, and I say this blessing, as always; Omega life is hard. No wolf should ever starve. We have been blessed by the Pack of Starry Nights to have escaped..." Ooraga paused.

"Amen," all the wolves chourused. They all stooped down to eat. I sniffed at the fox piece I got and drew back, wrinkling my nose. Maru, who was eating beside me, nudged me to her stomach. I smelled the milk again. It wasn't like Poppyfrost's milk, but it smelled okay. Remembering my mother made me want to go home. Even if it meant playing Moss Ball all day with Molekit. I latched on and started to suckle, biting down hard. Maru yelped and backed away, only to collapse again, breathing hard.

"Maru!" Ooraga cried. Before I knew what was happening, Maru ordered everyone to go away, and Lula was pressing Maru's stomach. My belly turned, because I knew what was happening; Maru was pupping. **(A/N, you know, like kitting, only pupping? Hehe...)** I ran after Ooraga, who was leading the other wolves behind the log.

"Ooraga," I said "I want to go home."

"I can't leave Maru!" Ooraga shouted. I slank back. "Sorry," he said softer.

"Have you ever heard of 'ThunderClan'?" I asked.

"Never seen it, but heard some Lambdas yipping about it," Ooraga replied "Oh, and a Lambda is a hunter of the pack."

"Oh. Well, that's where I live," I said. At that moment, Lula ran behind the log.

"Three males and a female. There was a fifth, but she... didn't make it..." Lula reported.

"Let's go see them!" Ooraga said, and we all went back over. Maru was not there. Lula led the group around to a den hidden by brambles. It sheltered the black she-wolf Maru. She was carefully licking the head of one of the males, a tannish orangy wolf with a white nose, underbelly, and undertail.

"I already have a perfect name for him," she said to Ooraga as he nuzzled her cheek. "Malip. It means..."

"Unusual one," Ooraga finished for her. She smiled warmly.

"The black male?" Maru asked.

"Ofara, for it means 'beautiful night'," Ooraga said.

"The gray male should be Scarma, meaning 'bravest in combat'," Maru said "and the female should be Cherry, after Cherrykit, who showed us that even the smallest of babies can be the bravest."

"Thank you," I said "but I really need to go home now."

"Hey, I can bring you!" all the wolves offered. Even Maru.

"Okay, let's all go," Ooraga said.

"Maru, need help carrying your pups?" I asked. Midnight took Scarma by the scruff, and Ooraga picked up Malip. Farfali grabbed Ofara, leaving Maru to take Cherry. Lula led, using her nose to track my scent. All the way into the camp. Where Poppyfrost frantically ran to me and licked me over.

"Cherrykit! I was so worried!" she cried. I glanced at Maru, who was laying on her side again with her pups. Poppyfrost saw me looking and followed my gaze.

"What are these... wolves doing here?" she screamed. The wolves shot to their paws. Firestar ran over.

"Do you need a place to stay?" he asked. Poppyfrost looked at him like he was crazy.

"Uhhmm... I guess you could say that," Ooraga said, licking Maru's cheek.

"What are your names?" Each wolf introduced themselves.

"Midnight, Ooraga, Farfali, and Lula, your den is the warrior's den. Brackenfur will give you the grand tour," Firestar said. Brackenfur ran over and swept the wolves with him.

"Maru will go to the nursery with her pups," Firestar decided. Moving the pups was hard, but in the end it worked.

* * *

><p><em>Four moons later...<em>

"Cherrypaw! Paw-leeeaaasseee can you play with us?" Ofara begged. Scarma and Cherry crouched down, ready to pounce if I said yes.

"Ohh... fine," I relented, and sure enough, Scarma, Cherry, and Ofara pounced on me. Malip trotted out of the nursery (his fur was wet, so I figured Maru was licking his fur) and saw us wrestling. He pounced on me too, and soon I was under a big pile of soft pup fur. I heard a laugh. And a deeper laugh following. Pushing Ofara's big butt off my face, I saw my mentor Thornclaw with Molepaw. Molepaw's mentor Mousewhisker grabbed a mouse and scurried over.

"Ready for a dawn patrol?" he asked Molepaw and Thornclaw. I shoved the pups off me and sat upright.

"Pleeaassseee Thornclaw?" I pleaded "Plleeeeaaasssseeeee?"

"Sure," Thornclaw said. Mousewhisker grabbed Whitewing, Birchfall, and Berrynose (ugh...) and we set off. Silence. Then Berrynose started bragging about how awesome he is, and as much as it normally bugged me, I thought back to my adventure with the wolves. _Some things never change, but maybe it's better that way._

**Whew! My fingers hurt! I hope you enjoyed this oneshot. Bye!**


End file.
